Ordinary observers in fast time travel

Shi Jia had some respect for these vendors. They might not have been well-educated, but they were incredibly eloquent.

She felt that even if her knowledge hadn't been sealed away, she wouldn't have been able to say so many nice things.

"Sister-in-law, what's the use of hawthorn cake?"

"To stimulate appetite and aid digestion," Shi Jia said subconsciously.

"Yes, yes, selling hawthorn cakes! Eating hawthorn cakes will make you eat two more bowls of rice!" Wang Tiehua said, her face flushed and her voice high.

"Second brother, shout with me quickly."

Wang Tieshan was a little embarrassed, but he couldn't resist his sister's tugging. He opened his mouth and began to speak dryly.

Shi Jia was speechless. Eat two more bowls of rice? In these days, it's hard for ordinary people to even have enough to eat, let alone have so much surplus grain to eat two more bowls of rice.

But whatever, let them shout.

Just when Shi Jia thought their deal was about to fall through, a woman wearing a clean cotton-padded jacket and carrying a basket walked over.

"Are you selling hawthorn cakes?" The woman stared at the reddish-brown strips on the small winnowing basket, her nose twitching slightly as a sweet and sour hawthorn aroma wafted over.

She was a maid in the Wan family named Hongliu. Recently, the second young mistress had been suffering from severe morning sickness, so the nanny sent her to the street to see if there were any suitable sour fruit preserves.

"Please try some first." Wang Tiehua enthusiastically picked up a small plate and handed it to Hongliu. Hongliu picked up a piece of hawthorn cake with her hand, examined it carefully, and then put it in her mouth. The sweet and sour taste exploded in her mouth, and the cake was soft and chewy with a slight chewiness. It was surprisingly delicious.

“Very good.” Hongliu’s eyes lit up, and she nodded in satisfaction. “How much? I’ll take them all.”

Wang Tiehua opened her mouth wide, "You want them all? Cough cough, 100 coins." After saying that, her cheeks flushed red, and she didn't dare to look at the woman. Ordinary pastries in the pastry shop only cost ten or twenty coins a serving.

100 coins for a serving of hawthorn cake is quite expensive, but that's the price my sister-in-law set...

"100 coins?" Hongliu frowned.

"Yes, hawthorn cake is very troublesome to make. Sugar is not cheap, and the hawthorns are brought out from the mountains at great risk," Shi Jia explained.

“Okay, I’ll take all 60 coins,” Hongliu interrupted Shijia.

"90 Wen."

"65!"

"80 coins is the lowest,"

"70 coins, I'll wrap it up if you want to buy it, otherwise forget it!" Hongliu frowned, then regretted her words; 60 coins was too high.

"Okay! I'll wrap it up for you right away." Shi Jia quickly wrapped all the hawthorn cakes in oil paper; there was actually only one serving.

"Is that all?" Hongliu frowned in dissatisfaction.

"Well, it's not easy to make, and I've never sold anything before, so I only made this much," Shi Jia explained. "If you want more, I'll make some more and bring them over in a couple of days."

Hongliu took the oil paper package, without saying whether she wanted it or not, and turned to leave.

"Sister-in-law, is 70 coins a bad deal?" Wang Tiehua initially thought 100 coins was too high, but now she felt that 70 coins was a bad deal.

"No, it's just that the sugar is a bit expensive, but we only used two ounces of sugar," Shi Jia said. However, she hadn't expected the hawthorn cake to sell well; today's main purpose was to sell ginseng.

"You two stay here and watch the stall, I'm going to the pharmacy," Shi Jia winked at the two men.

The two siblings nodded, "Okay, sister-in-law, you go ahead."

Shi Jia carried the little one away naturally. They had sold ginseng once before, and the shopkeeper was very honest. She didn't plan to change shops this time either.

Inside Chunhetang, manager Wan Lin frowned as he looked at the remaining amount of medicinal herbs in the ledger. Due to the war in the north, most of their medicinal herbs had been requisitioned.

There are not many medicinal herbs left in the warehouse. Although they have stepped up their efforts to purchase medicinal herbs, the herbs in the mountains have not grown well due to the drought in recent years.

Neither rare nor common medicinal herbs could meet the shop's daily needs.

Wan Lin frowned more and more as he thought about it, and his jet-black hair was tinged with silver.

"Manager Wan." Shi Jia walked into the pharmacy and saw the manager doing accounts. He subconsciously looked up, and when he saw who it was, his eyes lit up. "Madam Li? You've found another good medicine?"

Shi Jia nodded slightly.

Manager Wan's face lit up with joy. "Come, let's talk in the back."

"it is good."

After bypassing the medicine cabinet, the two arrived at the backyard. The backyard of Chunhetang was very large and was filled with wooden shelves, on which were rows of processed medicinal herbs.

Behind the shelves was a row of houses where medicines were decocted and processed, and a rich aroma of herbs wafted from them.

"Sit down." Wan Lin looked eagerly at the basket on Shi Jia's back.

Shi Jia put the little guy on the ground, put down the basket, and took out a clump of leaves from it.

"This?" Wan Lin frowned; he didn't want the leaves.

Shi Jia tore open the straw rope binding the leaves, and the tightly wrapped clump of leaves, now free, scattered, revealing a slightly yellow corner.

"Hiss~" Wan Lin has been a medicinal herb merchant for decades, and he can identify what kind of medicinal herb it is just from this corner.

Shi Jia carefully parted the leaves, revealing a plump ginseng with intact roots. She reached out and picked up the ginseng.

"Don't!"

"Hmm?" Shi Jia looked at him in confusion, while casually shaking the ginseng to clear away all the leaves. "Manager Wan, how much is it?"

Wan Lin hurriedly took the ginseng, not forgetting to glare at Shi Jia. Then he quickly found a finely crafted winnowing basket, placed the ginseng on it, and then steadily held the basket to examine the ginseng.

"Beautiful, so beautiful! How did you do that?"

"What?" Shi Jia asked, puzzled.

"So intact, not a single ginseng root was broken," Wan Lin exclaimed in amazement.

"Um, didn't you say last time that you'd be fined if you broke it?" Shi Jia said matter-of-factly. "Manager Wan, this ginseng is at least a hundred years old. How much are you willing to pay?"

“Not just a hundred years, at least three hundred years.” Wan Lin was completely absorbed in the ginseng at this moment.

"How much is that?"

"It's priceless!" Wan Lin said instinctively.

"What?" Shi Jia frowned.

"Ahem, five hundred taels! How about I give you five hundred taels?" Wan Lin realized what was happening and quickly added.

Shi Jia had been observing him closely, naturally taking in all his reactions. "That's too little. If Manager Wan doesn't want to accept it, I'll go ask at Ji Ren Tang next door."

Upon hearing this, Wan Lin reacted as if a cat whose tail had been stepped on, "No way! The manager of Ji Ren Tang is the most cunning. If you go there, you definitely won't get a good price!"

He gritted his teeth and said, "Eight hundred taels!"

Shi Jia thought for a moment and shook her head, "One thousand taels!" Although she lacked relevant knowledge, she was still very clear about the value of a hundred-year-old ginseng. Even Li Yunniang had similar experiences in her memory.

"One thousand taels!" Wan Lin exclaimed. "Madam Li, don't ask for such an exorbitant price! If I buy it for one thousand taels, I'll lose at least one hundred taels. You can't let me not make a single penny..."

"Manager Wan, you jest," Shi Jia shook his head. "I've heard that a 300-year-old ginseng is worth at least three thousand taels of silver. There are so many high-ranking officials and nobles in the city; you could definitely make a lot of money selling ginseng to them. If I had connections, I would definitely try to find those nobles myself..."

"Alright, alright! One thousand taels it is." Wan Lin quickly stopped Shi Jia from speaking, fearing that she would continue to raise the price.

Shi Jia smiled and said, "Then thank you very much, shopkeeper."

Wan Lin also relaxed, "If Madam Li comes across any good medicinal herbs in the future, she must come to my Chunhetang."

"Of course," Shi Jia smiled. (End of Chapter)